M.S. Degree Requirements

The Master of Science degree in Technical Communication requires completion of a minimum of 33 semester hours of graduate credit. Upon admission to the program, students must complete the degree within six years. Although the program is centered in the Department of English, the curriculum is interdepartmental, drawing on the diverse resources of the university. Thus, 15 of the core credits are taken in the Department of English, and the remaining 18 credits can be taken in English and in other disciplines, depending on the interests and background of each student. The program does not require a traditional academic thesis. Instead, students complete a comprehensive project as part of the capstone course.  

Students must take courses that fulfill requirements in the following three areas and complete a semester equivalent of professional work experience.

• Applications Courses (9 or 12 credits)
• Theories and Methods Courses (6 or 9 credits)
• Required Core Courses (15 credits)

Courses

The Technical Communication program offers a foundation of courses in theory and practice supplemented by elective courses in technical disciplines. The required core courses are designed to emphasize technical writing and editing, teamwork, audience analysis, document usability and field testing, and publication management. The courses also give students principles and strategies to apply in technical fields such as engineering, computer science, medicine, and environmental science.

Beyond the required five courses, students can select a mixture of applications courses and theory and method courses from the technical communication program and from other departments. Students can select elective courses to design their area of specialization. For example, there are elective clusters in web design and development, environmental communication, medical/health communication, industrial communication, agricultural communication and information systems communication. Those who prefer not to specialize can select from dozens of related graduate courses offered by other departments, including communication, psychology, computer science, business, graphic design and public administration.

Students must complete a minimum of 33 semester hours of graduate credit that includes 15 credits of required core courses and a minimum of 18 credits divided between the applications courses and theories and methods courses. To fulfill requirements for graduate coursework in applications and theories and methods, students can choose any of the following:

• 12 hours of applications courses and 6 hours of theories and methods courses (18 credits)
• 9 hours of applications courses and 9 hours of theories and methods courses (18 credits)
• 9 hours of applications courses and 9 hours of approved electives (18 credits)
• 12 hours of applications courses and 6 hours of approved electives (18 credits)

Required Courses (15 Credits)

ENG 512 Theory and Research in Professional Writing

The process of writing, the functions of texts, methods of teaching and evaluating writing, introduction to research design.

ENG 515 Rhetoric of Science and Technology

The relationship between language and science, critical analysis of texts from science/technology, public controversy in science/technology.

ENG 517 Advanced Technical Writing and Editing

Advanced study of specialized documents, technical editing and publications management for students planning careers in writing and editing.

ENG 518 Publication Management for Technical Communicators

Advanced study of publication and team management issues such as staffing, scheduling, project management, and tracking.

ENG 675 Projects in Technical Communication

This is a capstone course, taken in the last semester of study. Instead of a thesis, students design a comprehensive project of their choosing. Typical projects cover a wide range of technical communication outputs, including websites, web-based training programs, revised corporate documents, scholarly articles for possible publication in peer-reviewed research journals, instructional manuals, etc.

Professional Work Experience Requirement

The equivalent of one semester of relevant professional work experience is required of all students. Previous work experience may satisfy this requirement. Students who do not have previous work experience can fulfill this requirement with a cooperative education experience, an internship, or part-time work. Students can also complete the work experience requirement by completing an internship as part of ENG 522 Writing in Nonacademic Settings. Cooperative education work experiences give graduate students opportunities to integrate academic study and workplace experience. In turn, such experience provides many benefits to industry, which gains access to affordable, well-prepared support staff.

The M. S. program receives a steady stream of requests from business, government, and educational institutions for cooperative, internship, and part-time student assistance, so completing this requirement is rarely a problem. Several area companies routinely employ M.S. students as interns and part-time employees, which often leads to full-time job offers upon graduation (and sometimes before).

Typical work experiences of cooperative education students in Technical Communication include technical editing, online editing, developing and updating web sites, writing user’s guides and reference guides, updating existing documents with new material, indexing, marketing, negotiating deadlines and motivating others to meet deadlines.

Consult with the Director of the M.S. Program in Technical Communication for information about positions available through Cooperative Education or through direct contact with potential employers.

Or, contact the university’s Cooperative Education Program directly:
Dr. Arnold S. Bell
Executive Director of Cooperative Education
2141B Pullen Hall, Box 7303
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7110
919-515-4420

M.S. Graduation Timeline

In your first year:

• Create your Plan of Work (POW). Make sure to save your POW only. You will not submit your POW for approval until your final semester.
• Sign the Patent Agreement in your POW.

3rd semester (or after 24-27 hours):

• Decide on Capstone Project topic and develop and revise your proposal in the fall semester in time to register for ENG 675 in the spring. To reserve a seat in ENG 675, communicate with the ENG 675 instructor in the fall semester when developing your proposal. Your seat will be confirmed when you submit your approved capstone proposal. Proposals are due by the last day of class.  Please keep in mind that faculty are planning their semesters as well and may not be able to accommodate last-minute requests.

Final semester:

• Meet with your capstone advisor to agree on a timeline for submission of your drafts and revisions. The final draft must be approved by your advisor and submitted to the graduate services coordinator by the last day of class.
• Complete your Plan of Work and submit for approval
• Apply to Graduate via MyPack at least two weeks in advance of the Graduate School’s deadline (the Graduate School’s Academic Calendar), so that your application can be reviewed and approved by the DGP before the deadline
• Submit drafts and revisions by the dates stipulated by your capstone advisor and your ENG 675 instructor
• Complete your project and submit the following to the graduate services coordinator by the last day of class. See Capstone Project page for formatting and submission requirements.
• Coordinate with your ENG 675 instructor to schedule and present your capstone project in ENG 675 (during April and early May)